The house in the Doldertal is, chronologically speaking, the second of three homes built and lived in by Max Haefeli. He designed the first one, "Im Guggi" in Zurich, as early as 1910, and in the 1930s he purchased an old Ticinese house ("campo d'oro") in Barbegna on Lake Lugano, which he gradually developed into his home for his later years. As different as Haefeli's three homes may seem at first glance, they do in fact reveal some common principles which lead to conjectures both about his architectural approach and his own way of life. All the houses are carefully integrated in their existing surroundings, and they are all orientated towards the south-west. Particular attention was paid in each case to the relationship between the house and the garden. The interior organisation takes little account of the need for representation, and monumental effects - like prestigious halls and suites -are entirely lacking.
Although Haefeli was by nature an artistic architect, he also possessed an aptitude for engineering, a double talent that is clearly visible in the Doldertal house. The logic of the design, based on practical aspects, is combined with a fine feeling for proportions, materials and colours. Since the house was designed for the needs of a specific individual, Peter Meyer regarded it as the "most representative example of modern Swiss residential architecture" of its time.
The house occupies the north-eastern corner of a large triangular site on Zürichberg, which slopes steeply down towards the Wolfbach valley. The building is arranged in two dissimilar volumes, a three-storey section with the emphasis on the vertical on the valley side, and a two-storey part with the emphasis on the horizontal on the hill side. As far as the exterior is concerned, various features create a homogeneous overall impression. The windows on the bedroom floor, for example, although they are placed at different distances, have a uniform design and are arranged in a line. There is a studio in the basement, the living rooms are placed on the ground floor, and the first floor accommodates the sleeping quarters. On both the living and the sleeping floors, the rooms are concentrated into functional groups. A staggering of the building volumes has created a wind-protected terrace, which is cleverly integrated, spatially and visually, with the house. The visual connection between the living room and the terrace is achieved by means of a stanchion-free (!) corner window.
The building is also divided into two parts on the horizontal plane. Since the house is orientated towards the sun and the view, the living and sleeping areas are located on the south-west front, whereas the kitchen and bathrooms are situated on the entrance side. As in English country residences, the size of the rooms is adapted to their individual purposes, which means that axes and symmetry are entirely lacking. Unlike the English model, however, there is no prestigious entrance hall. The imposing house is intended entirely for private use and is not designed for any representative purposes.
The house in the Doldertal was constructed at a time when the first examples of modern architecture were emerging in Switzerland. Despite the traditional disposition (reminiscent of old gabled Zurich lake houses), the steep pitched roofs, punched window openings and firm anchorage to the ground, the building is more than a mere harbinger of this movement. In terms of form, there is evidence of the influence of the model of the then highly esteemed Dutch architecture, and in its interior organisation it pre-empts the functionalist Neues Bauen. In his book on modern Swiss residential buildings, the Swiss architect and art historian Peter Meyer describes Haefeli's house at the very beginning in order to "point out the latent modernity of historic architecture".
Although Haefeli was an attentive observer of contemporary trends in architecture, as is shown by his second home, he never again took any consistent steps towards the Neues Bauen, unlike his colleague Karl Moser, the "father of Swiss Modern Architecture", who was older by nine years. His role as mentor was limited to his influence on his son Max Ernst, who Haefeli introduced to the architectural métier in his own office: under the benevolent influence of his father, Ernst developed into one of the leading protagonists of the Swiss architectural avant-garde.
Max Haefeli's home is now privately owned and is currently severely threatened by a conversion project. < BACK
Bruno Maurer